Monthly Archives: <span>December 2017</span>

New Jersey Beach Can Be Seized for New Dune Project

Midway Beach, a small oceanfront community on the New Jersey shore, was barely impacted by Superstorm Sandy, due largely to the large sand dunes its nearly 400 homeowners built and maintained over the decades. Then, state officials told the community’s …

La Nina Contributing to Wildfire Threat in Mid-South, Plains

Conditions are ripe for winter wildfires from the mid-South through the Great Plains thanks to a combination of weather factors, including the climate phenomenon known as La Nina, that have left a lot of dry growth. In addition to the …

Fraud News: Arson, Bogus Property Claim, Staged Crash Ring Busted

West Virginia Family Indicted in Insurance Fraud Scheme A man, his ex-wife and two sons are accused of burning down two West Virginia homes and pocketing over $550,000 in insurance claims. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports 66-year-old Windel Lester, his ex-wife, …

Experts Discuss Sea Level Rise Projected Increases Expected by 2100

Societal concerns about climate change, severe weather and rising seas are raising questions about readiness across the globe. Extreme weather events this year such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria underscore the need to be prepared. Planning for sea level …

10 Ways Top Workers’ Comp Claims Firms Distinguish Themselves from the Pack

A newly released study reveals that core competencies drive claims outcomes. That’s according to the 2017 Workers Compensation Benchmarking Study conducted by Rising Medical Solutions, a provider of medical cost containment and medical care management services. The study, now in …

Medication Errors Drop When Pharmacy Staff Take Drug Histories in ER

When pharmacy professionals — rather than doctors or nurses — take medication histories of patients in emergency departments, mistakes in drug orders can be reduced by more than 80 percent, according to a study led by Cedars-Sinai. Acting on the …

Lawyers Walk Fine Line Navigating State, Federal Pot Laws

Just as entrepreneurs getting into the retail pot industry need a good lawyer, some of those lawyers might be wise to consult an attorney of their own. Lawyers in the burgeoning business are entering a legal gray zone where the …

Rural Minnesota Towns Consider Driverless Car Technology

A transportation researcher says rural Minnesota residents could benefit from driverless cars. Frank Douma from the University of Minnesota created a task force last year to examine how to give residents across the state access to self-driving vehicles, Minnesota Public …

Vacancy Exclusion Applies to Vandalism But Not Arson Loss

A federal court in Ohio, faced with the question of whether a vacancy exclusion applied in the case of arson, a matter of first impression in that state, attempted without success to get the answer from the Supreme Court of …

Over 20% of U.S. Properties at Risk for Flood Not in Designated Flood Zones

An estimated 23 percent of residential and commercial properties in the U.S. are at High or Moderate risk of flooding, based on CoreLogic proprietary flood analysis, but are outside of designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) as identified by the …